Wife sues Sauk Village over husband's death

February 11, 2005|By Jo Napolitano, Tribune staff reporter.

The wife of a Mokena man found dead in a hospital parking lot 12 days after his friends left him there is suing Sauk Village, saying its Police Department did not respond to a call alerting officials that the man needed help.

Security personnel at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Dyer, Ind., found 28-year-old Jacob Kibbey's frozen body in the lot Jan. 2, nearly two weeks after he arrived there, likely in need of medical help.

Dyer is just across the Illinois state line.

John Kelly, an attorney representing the deceased's wife, said Kibbey had been partying with friends or acquaintances Dec. 21, the day he went missing.

"He had a dependency problem for which he was seeking treatment," Kelly said.

Sometime during that evening, something must have happened that made his friends think he needed medical attention, Kelly said, so they took him to the Dyer hospital. They then left the scene, but someone from the group called the Sauk Village 911 dispatch center to alert police to Kibbey's location. Sauk Village is a few miles west of Dyer.

Kibbey's vehicle was left about 100 feet from the hospital entrance, Kelly said.

Details about the 911 call are unclear--Kelly has not yet heard the tape, and the police would not return calls for information--but no one went to Kibbey's aid.

Kelly said he did not know the identity or whereabouts of anyone who was in the vehicle that night other than the deceased.

"We believe they acted appropriately under the circumstances by using the 911 system," Kelly said.

Kibbey's wife and uncle reported him missing Dec. 21, Kelly said.

Sauk Village Police Chief Tom Lacheta did not return phone calls Thursday and neither did the village's attorney. Lacheta was quoted in The (Munster) Times confirming that a dispatcher had received a call about Kibbey and that an internal investigation was under way.

Sauk Village Mayor Roger Peckham issued a statement late Thursday afternoon offering condolences to the Kibbey family and adding that the village would not comment on the case pending the investigation and lawsuit.

Police and city officials from Dyer also declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the hospital said she would not answer questions posed by the media about the case but that her hospital has worked closely with investigators.